I don’t generally read many mystery books, but this one was recommended to me by our Whodunit Book Club, a group that has been reading mysteries together for about six years. They were unanimous in their assessment of this book – it’s a fabulous read with great depth that will interest those who aren’t the traditional mystery reader.

In 1984, two children disappear in a Dublin suburb leaving behind the third of their group – a boy who was with them on that summer afternoon but was found, alive but covered in blood, with no recollection as to what had happened to himself or his friends. Fast-forward to the current day when Detective Rob Ryan, the little boy whose friends were never found, is investigating the murder of a twelve-year old in the same small town that he grew up in. Similarities between the disappearance of the two children nearly two decades before and the new case are striking, but Ryan’s personal interest in the case leads to his slow decline as an investigator.

I’d highly recommend this debut novel. I’ve also been meaning to check out French’s second book, The Likeness, which could roughly be considered a sequel to In the Woods, but actually follows the story of Detective Ryan’s partner, Cassie Maddox.

Click here to find this book in our catalog.

How could I deny someone of his or her birthday wish?  To cook.  To put Kamm in the kitchen and see if the kitchen would still be there hours later or to see who would end up in the ER first. So, to be annoying I turned the Aretha Franklin RESPECT song into my own version just to be simply annoying (as singing is one of my sweetest downfalls).

I appreciate being connected to everything I do. I enjoy the over analyzing, the over thinking, the preparation…. The process and the formula.

Cooking is very much like writing; it is an expression of you and to others. Just like an outline breaking down Act I, II and III we have these things called recipes.  A detailed list of measurements, ingredients, a formula to create. This is very much like the creative process for writing; however, you can mix things up at any time and for a beginner chef…. I’m following the recipe with no substitutions.  If it says to stand on my head and whip the potatoes I will do just that of fear of not making a mistake.  That is the downfall of being a perfectionist sometimes.  Fear of a mistake and the consequences that will follow.  I’m still working on this.

Lately, I have been drawn to Ireland.  I plan on sometime soon jetting off to JFK and hopping a flight to the doom and gloom, the green landscape and the Irish accents (sorry Italy, not this year).  And since I am not working on my novel this evening, I will at least write a blog.  I will include my connection to Ireland, my passion for writing and the creative process of cooking last night by this recipe.

Last night on the menu was Halibut with Tomato-Sorrel Sauce served over red skin garlic mashed potatoes.  You don’t know where the fish ends and the potatoes begin the recipe states.  It was actually quite beautiful.  The dish was created by Chef Desmond, of Island Cottage on Hare Island in Ireland.  He uses Turbot that comes from the waters off nearby Clear Island.  The recipe that was given to me called for Halibut, as it is more readily available here.

Speaking of how I got the recipe to fulfill a very special person’s birthday wish.  I went to my family.  I went back to the people who during my childhood filled the kitchen of my childhood home, well my Italian side.  While growing up, the women in my family, six to be exact, filled the kitchen with cooking, baking, preparing, eating and laughter of course. A family meal defined our weeks, weekends and especially holidays.  Where Christmas cookies started being prepared after Thanksgiving as the holidays always brought in the crowd. So, to fulfill this birthday wish, I went back “home” to my people and asked for advice. Well, not so calmly.  I think my exact words in my email were – Re:  Emergency!  I have to cook!  Dear Aunties, I need your help for this weekend. Need a recipe to demonstrate that I can do everything.  Don’t think Osso Bucco as I’m not spending five hours in the kitchen and I’m better than a spaghetti and meatball. Please advise ASAP.  Love, Me.

This is when I give myself a hard time for not spending more time in the kitchen with the women in my family.  My time simply included stopping in every so often to sneak a bite, finger a sauce, or ask when it would be ready.  Unfortunately, I hung out with the men and boys in my family tormenting them, challenging them and making sure they knew I could beat them at anything. Knowing myself this was not true when they challenged my to an arm wresting match or a game of basketball, my big mouth always got me by. I simply could exhaust them with my words until they would throw their hands up in the air and just tell me I won.

Anyway, about fifteen minutes later, my inbox received 7 emails containing recipes from the “chef” as my other Aunt who usually steals from the “chef” knew there was no time to waste and pretend anything was coming from her.  We will call the “chef” Annie. (And yes, that is really her name.  I couldn’t help myself).   I chose Mr. Halibut because as I read the ingredients and preparation, I felt connected to Chef Desmond from Ireland.  I have felt connected to Ireland for the past month and that urge to hop on a plane.  That freedom to go and write, create and simply do everything and nothing at the same time. Also, the not knowing “where the fish ends and the potatoes begin” was beautiful and very familiar to my novel.  In Under Her Skin, Isabella Reynold’s passion to find her “Truth” was a result of not being able to see where the lies end and the truth begins.

On Sunday, I entered Whole Foods market and loaded up on fresh organic ingredients.  As the double doors opened wide and I jumped into the herd of NY shoppers, I grabbed a basket and pulled out the list.  “Dear God” is all I can recall from the shopping experience.

Skip forward to unloading the brown bags, organizing the produce on the chopping table, placing the recipe out, grabbing the bottle of Malbec and pouring a heavy glass I stood in the middle of the kitchen and took a deep breath.  I then did what I do best and what guided me into creating my novel in seven months.  I grabbed post it notes and a pen and I quickly outlined temperatures and timing as how else would one be simmering the sauce while it was to evaporate a bit, sautéing the zucchini for two minutes, boiling the potatoes for 15 minutes while the Halibut was to only bake for 10 minutes until opaque?  Let’s just say I wall papered the kitchen with my post it notes.

I took a long sip of my Malbec.  I repeated to myself:

“I will not be intimated by 16 ounces of Halibut.  I will not fear boiling or getting burned.  I will not shy away from the heat of the oven when opening the oven door as it slaps me in the face.  I will not jump when I turn on the electric mixer to whip those red skin potatoes, heavy cream, butter and garlic.  I will smile, simmer and seduce those ingredients into the dish that is supposed to be.  I will fulfill a birthday wish and I will learn from this challenge that will better be in everything I do! These two hours will be an adventure that at the end I will cross the finish line with my head held high and say, “May I get you anything else?”  Why can’t everything in life be like that?

As I turned everything off and pulled out plates.  I scooped a hefty amount of creamy red skin mashed potatoes.  I gently placed a piece of delicate Halibut on top while spooning the rich tomato-sorrel sauce in a swirl like manner.

This is what I know.  When you put your heart into anything, you can do everything. That there is a formula or recipe to success… Having heart even when sometimes you got go home for support is what really matters.

I also know this.  Creating anything is beautiful to me.  Taking many things whether it is feelings, ideas, characters, zucchini, tomatoes and heavy cream and building something bigger is truly wonderful.  That everything, even the smallest thing means something.  All these little pieces of the puzzle, the formula, and the recipe that creates something bigger.

If only there was a specific recipe for finding a literary agent…….

p.s. Here I come Top Chef!

CK

The Intihuatana stone at Machu Picchu is arranged to point directly to the Sun at the Winter Solstice, and then casts no shadow.  How is this similar to the ancient sites of Ireland?

The Intihuatana stone at Machu Picchu

Thus the following excerpt from, With a Light Touch: Spiralling Impressions from Knowth to the Joyce Tower, by James Nemec LMT, CST-D, now posted for your reading pleasure at the sacred sites of Ireland website, Knowth.com See what happens when an American Tourist and an authentic Irish encounter the ancient site of Ireland’s, Knowth, in a new way — !

” “Did you happen to touch the stones?” I said to Eileen.
“What?”
“Did you touch the stones?”’
“Of course not,” she answered. “I’ve done that a million times at Newgrange.”
“It’s not the same,” I said.
“What?” We were going over another hill.
I said, “I’ll bet it’s not the same.”
“Nothing ever is,” she said above the noise.

The closest that I could come to remembering anything like this feeling was when I was visiting Machu Picchu with my Dad in the 1990s. The sense of using the body to interact with the stones was similar to my sitting on what was called, for short, “The Needle.” The actual name of the stone is the Intihuatana, or “hitching post for the sun.” The Needle was an ancient stone structure that looked like a giant seat and roped off from the tourists. The most important shrine at Machu Picchu, it was used by Inca astronomers to predict solstices and played into the mythology of the ancient Incas. I thought of the way the high priests of Machu Picchu would gather around this Needle while the common people prayed on the wide grounds below, but to me, it was just a big rock that looked like a seat.

After two days of being there, I slipped in under the rope and sat down on the smooth part. I began to feel a spine-tingling and sudden, powerful resonance. It was so strong as a focal point that it alarmed me. I felt if I sat longer the sky would open and split apart, or my brain would! After a minute or so, I got up from The Needle and went back under the ropes, and looked at it from there like a good tourist. The Kerbstones I’d touched at Knowth had the same kind of deep resonance, but it was clean and present and NOW. I just couldn’t place it. At Knowth, my body felt safe, and this feeling of safety, even of reassurance from the deep center of our star system, was very unlike the feeling I’d had while sitting on the powerful Intihuatana, at Machu Picchu …. “

All Rights Reserved

James Nemec LMT, CST-D

With courtesy of, Knowth.com

Barry Magee is a native of Co. Down. He is a Law Graduate from Queens University Belfast and has been involved  in Northern Irish, EU and US Politics for a number of years.  This is a two parted article about growing up as a Republican in the North over the past 25 years and what he feels needs to be done to achieve Irish Unity in the future

Part 1

Many of my earliest memories from my childhood are of family holidays spent in France each summer. These are fond childhood memories of see-saws, kites, lizards, coca-cola and the thrills of being in an unknown and totally alien place. They were two weeks of totally uninhibited childhood abandon, exploring sand dunes, chasing after strange insects, gazing at the magnificent fields of sunflower, playing in salt marshes and all the things that make childhood such an enchanting time. In those days I lived for those two weeks spent in France each summer.

Each year when travelling home from the ferry port in Rosslare, Co. Wexford we were stopped at fortified army check-points when travelling over the border back into the North. Being stopped at the check-points outside Newry, by members of the Ulster Defence Regiment, is also one of my earliest childhood memories. The contrasting nature of these memories -from happiness and joy to anxiety and worry – and its poignancy has never been lost on me.

Back then the border was very much a physical entity. It was made of concrete, barbed wire, watch towers, gun turrets. But this physical division was man-made. It was artificial. It would not last. I find it truly amazing how the border has changed so dramatically over the years. Now you could ride a go-kart over it without as much as a second glance. But only 15 years ago it was like entering a police state.

When compared the North and South sides of the border were polar opposites. The distinction could not have been greater. But this distinction was what the then British authorities sought. Thatcher’s Government wanted strict border controls in place to remind people that the North and South were totally separate entities. Two separate countries, two different worlds. Now dismantled watchtowers and gun emplacements along South Armagh testify that this was a strategy that has failed. The present-day “border” is porous, not rigid.

I may have only been a child of 6 years old, with only a child’s grasp of what was happening in the North but I was truly frightened by the army men with their guns. I don’t know why I feared them; maybe I was conditioned by my parents to fear them. Even at that early age I knew there was something wrong in the North but I had no personal experiences of this. I had a peaceful, suburban upbringing and all my friends went to the same school. The only army men that existed in my world were the GI-JOE figures that I often played with as a kid. Many children across the North were not so fortunate to have had such an innocent childhood as I did. I was one of the lucky ones.

I can remember one time when our family were driving through Newry on returning from one such holiday and I saw “IRA” graffiti scrawled over a building wall. I was terrified. I thought that the IRA would kill us. Even in those early years I knew what the PIRA were about. They killed people and often indiscriminately.

These are all memories that have always stuck with my through the years and have helped shaped who I have become. I am proud to be a person who has stood against zero-sum politics and the use of violence. I am also proud to be an Irishman and a republican. I have an Irish passport and identify Irish as my nationality of origin. This is my basic entitlement under the Good Friday Agreement. My family, particularly on my father’s side, have always encouraged my republicanism. They, like many of yours, have been involved in important moments of the republican struggle- they fought for independence against the British and on both sides in the subsequent civil war.

Our family’s involvement in Irish politics has not been solely limited to the island of Ireland. Tipp O’Neill the legendary Irish-American Congressman, and one of the “Four Horsemen” quartet made up of Irish-American Congressmen who campaigned for peace in Northern Ireland, can trace his roots to my family tree. His mother was a cousin of my grandmother. Irish republican politics is most definitely in my blood.

But considering this, in what may seem as some sort of twisted dichotomy, I am also proud to be Northern Irish. Many of you may frown upon this and maybe justifiably so; but I feel content and proud in recognising the regional identity that plays a huge part in making me who I am. I believe that regional diversity is what makes any country great.

The North has been part of the United Kingdom since 1921 when it was constituted under law by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. That is the legal position but it is a fundamentally false and unjust position. Ireland should never have been partitioned. It was a historical injustice and decision that time has proven to be a mistake. A mistake that has caused untold suffering and death to thousands of people, some innocent civilians and some armed combatants. Sometimes I wonder whether if Ireland had not been partitioned back then in 1921 would there be a united Ireland now?

Living in the north has always been tough for those who identify themselves as Irish, not only before partition but certainly afterwards in a unionist controlled state. A state were Irish people were second class citizens. A state that was at war with everything considered Irish.

Yes those days may now be long gone, confined to history. But there certainly still remains a firm legacy of partition for many republicans in the North.

Many republicans in the north have always felt a sense of abandonment from the Irish state and to some this was compounded by the removal of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution – the territorial claim over the North. There is a perception in the North, justified or not and on both sides of the political divide, that many people living in the South, particularly young people, are happy with the status quo and do not care much about Irish unity.

This detachment from our past is taking place not only in the South but in the North also. It is one of the major challenges that republicanism faces in the modern era. We live in an increasingly globalised 21st century, in a time where pessimism and cynicism are popular belief-systems and where politics is viewed with disdain and contempt. There is a lack of trust in democracy that has been compounded by recent expenses and corruption scandals. We live in a society were being political isn’t cool and where culture is dominated by materialism, a time of X-Boxes and i-phones. Do people on this island still care about a united Ireland? There are many other challenges in regards to the goliath task of uniting Ireland and apathy is just one of them. Building confidence in the North is another vital aspect, because a North that is divided will never take it’s rightful place in an all-Ireland republic. Only though integration and building a shared future can progress towards a united Ireland ever be achieved. Building political confidence in the South is also another.

In the North, republicans must also address the fissures within republicanism and seek to unify behind a collective and non-violent movement for New Ireland. This will be no easy task by any means.

There is also the question of what role Stormont would play in a united Ireland? Would it be rendered obsolete? Navigating this dilemma is important. I want a united Ireland where Stormont has a role to play within a federal system. Only under that basis could a united Ireland ever be workable. The retention of Stormont will allow unionists to maintain a sense of autonomy and allow others to practice that sense of regional identity that I mentioned earlier.

The Met Office has issued three weather warnings today. More severe conditions are expected in the coming week. Are you scared?

Very wet and windy conditions are anticipated with widespread rain and strong winds gusting at 60mph at time. Winds at up to 100mph were recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight today.

On Saturday, four teenagers were killed in a car accident in Birmingham due to severe weather. The car hit one side of the road and shot through the front wall of the garden, said a local resident.

In Essex, a tornado wrecked 60 homes on Sunday. “It was devastating. Whole roofs were rocking from side to side and chimneys came crashing down,” described Adele Ashdown, from Benfleet. In Devon and Cornwall, 10,000 homes faced a black out as the power line was down.

The great storm of 1987 killed 18 people with winds of 115mph, leaving a trail of destruction estimated at £1.5 billion. This weekend’s storm has been the heaviest storm of the year so far. “We have had gusts reported of 72mph at Culdrose in Cornwall and 71mph at Plymouth,” said Byron Chakcraft, Met. Office.

The Environment Agency urges people to stay in alert. “We may issue flood warnings for possible sea flooding around parts of South Wales coast and possible floodings for rivers across Wales. So we urge people to remain vigilant,” said Jeremy Parr, Flood Risk Manager of The Environment Agency.

But, what if we cut the crap for a moment… how does that small storm compare to any flood that happened this year in Asia? What are real catastrophes? We journalists just love sensationalism too much sometimes…

The phrase “the luck of the Irish” is bandied about on a regular basis but it certainly doesnt apply to the Irish football team anymore. Perhaps that other stereotype “The Fighting Irish” would be more apt after the way their ill-fated first leg World Cup play-off with France ended.

While France were ultimately well worth victory, Ireland spurned numerous chances to give themselves a cushion for the second leg in Paris. The deflected shot off Sean St Ledger was just the tip of the iceberg for the lucky general Trappatoni as fortune finally didnt favour the brave Irish players in this qualifying campaign. France strolled into Croke park cocky and added to their disillusionment with the eccentric and erratic Raymond Domench, Ireland failed to take advantage. Liam Lawrence saw his shot to an open goal incredibly blocked by Patrice Evra and somehow you felt, even at this early stage, Irelands night was not going to end successful.

Of course that other stereotype, which the French players mentioned beforehand, namely Ireland would be hard-working, committed and disciplined was evident but unfortunatley this is a backhanded compliment as it a nice way of saying are game but very limited and lacking in quality. Unable to pick a pass like Henry or Gourcuff, Ireland lacked creativity in the middle third and despite the energy of Lawrence and the strength of Doyle theu couldnt hurt a slightly suspect French defence.

This isnt a great French team even compared to the one which also beat Ireland 1-0 in Dublin in 2005. No Zidane, Makelele or Vieria but still enough gallic flair up front which Ireland would kill for. Just to pose the question, would any Irish player make the French starting eleven? Possibly Shay Given and maybe Richard Dunne if there was an injury like in the case of Abidal this Wednesday night.

Prospects

So Ireland head to the Stade de France needing to win. Surely this is impossible? Ireland havent beaten a team ranked above them in a qualifiying game since 2001 when Holland were slayed. A certain Corkman was central to that victory but today we rely on Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews. Their commitment to the Republics cause is without question and is as strong as Keanes ever was but when you cant string consecutive passes together, you dont really have a platform to overturn the homeside in Paris. Even another wide boy from Cork who is now permanently AWOL would be welcome to help the cause.
South Africa next summer seems almost out of sight now but we still have hope and precious little else. We can pray for a top-up of some of Trappatonis percieved luck such as the lucky escapes against the likes of Georgia and Italy but the only real hope is if the French team combust from a combination of arrogance and fury for Domenech. Now who do we have to come on late and save the day? Leon Best? Que est il? Scare bleu!

With the Name of God, The Source of all Grace, The Source of all Mercy,

Peace and greetings, everyone. The last video I made entitled “Boycott “Without You” album and Boycott Awakening Records, too!!!” did not give due attention to the “Without You” album being fake. Therefore, I made another video concentrating exclusivly on the “Without You” album. Here it is:

I urge all of you to not buy the fake “Without You” album and to urge others not to buy it, either. God bless y’all and take care.

Samir R. Elneser

Ardmore, Oklahoma, United States of America

Fitzgerald is helped from the field with a damaged knee

As feared by junglebOOgie at the back end of last week, the large number of Leinster players away on international duty has resulted in an injury that will no doubt harm the province’s push to retain its Heineken Cup crown.

Lions and Leinster wing Luke Fitzgerald hobbled off before the hour mark with an injury that could keep him out for up to six months. After a scan this afternoon, it has been confirmed that Luke has ruptured the lateral collateral ligament in his knee, and will require a period of rehabilitation that could see him miss Ireland’s grand slam defence, Leinster’s Heineken Cup defence and Leinster’s push to win back their Magners’ League title.

Of course, this means an opportunity for one of Isa Nacewa, Dave Kearney, Girvan Dempsey, Fergus McFadden or any of a number of other possible wingers/centres at Leinster, though the immediate beneficiary at international level is likely to be Keith ‘overhyped’ Earls.

All that we can offer here at Points of Blue is our best wishes to Luke as he makes a hopefully-speedy recovery.

Driving lessons, driving schools and driving instructors throughout Dublin and Ireland. All our driving instructors are RSA ADI approved. Simply select your lesson type, city or county and find an approved driving instructor in your local area. We are now covering motorbike lessons nationwide and have recently launched our HGV and Coach/Bus, Driver CPC training courses nationwide.

By Jeremy D. Morley

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention) provides that a child who is habitually resident in one party country, and has been removed to or retained in another party country in violation of the left-behind parent’s custodial rights, should be promptly returned to the country of habitual residence. However, many countries are not parties to the Convention, and even some that are parties enforce the laws only sporadically or in accordance with their own societal customs. Thus, the attorney must take special care when faced with the possibility that his client’s foreign national spouse might take the children to such a country.

Preventing Abductions to Non-Hague Countries

The first 4 months are  the golden window, were you have the chance to get your children back due to the Hague convention.

The mother in Ahmad v Naviwala,  learned these lessons the hard way. The Family Court awarded her sole custody of the children but unfortunately (although represented by counsel!) she permitted the father to take them to Saudi Arabia for a 3-month visitation. Not surprisingly (to a jaundiced international family lawyer), the father refused to return the children from Saudi Arabia, refused to allow the mother to see the children and obtained an ex parte custody order in his favor from a Saudi court. Had he kept the children in Saudi Arabia, they would doubtless have never been reunited with their mother. Fortunately, he took the children on a trip to Texas, where they were seized pursuant to a Broome County Family Court order, and returned to New York.

The Family Court then granted custody to the father (!), with visitation rights to the mother. Recognizing that Saudi Arabia was not a party to the Hague Convention, and that the mother could not enforce her visitation rights there, the court imposed various conditions upon the father intended to ensure that he would allow the mother to visit the children in Saudi Arabia. For violating the prior custody order, the father was sentenced to a suspended term of incarceration conditioned upon his future compliance.

On appeal, the Third Department awarded custody to the mother, stressing the fact that the father had intended to permanently remove the mother from the children’s lives. The Appellate Division found that the Family Court’s efforts to ensure the mother’s access to the children in Saudi Arabia were entirely insufficient, and allowed visitation by the father only in the United States, with the mother having sole custody of the children’s passports. A successful outcome for the mother was obtained only because the father had brought the children to Texas. This case highlights the fact that, all too often, the courts are reluctant to impose strict conditions to prevent parental child abduction until after an abduction has actually taken place.

United States v. Amer

In United States v. Amer, Egyptian parents were living separately in New York without a custody order. The father abducted the children to Egypt. The mother’s efforts to secure their return failed and the father procured an order from an Egyptian court granting him sole custody. He returned to the United States without the children and was arrested for international parental kidnapping. He was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and a 1-year term of supervised release, with the special condition that he return the children to the United States. The Second Circuit upheld the requirement that the children be returned, since it was closely tailored to the crime and it served to deter others from wrongfully taking their children overseas.

While Muslim countries are generally not parties to the Hague Conven-tion (Turkey being an exception, although it does not fully comply with its treaty obligations), the problem extends also to many other countries. For example, those Asian countries with Confucian-based state family registration systems, such as China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, are not parties to the Hague Convention (except for Hong Kong and Macau), and provide minimal assistance for the return of parentally abducted children.

Japan is a renowned haven for child abduction, particularly if the abducting parent is a Japanese national. See http://www.international-divorce.com/ca-japan.htm. In any custody battle involving a Japanese national, it would be foolhardy not to draft a custody order that precludes visits to Japan considering the possibility that that parent might take the child permanently to Japan. The courts in Japan will not enforce foreign custody orders and will not take any effective steps to return abducted children. See “Japanese Family Law — or The Lack Thereof!,” by Jeremy D. Morley, http://www.international-divorce.com/d-japan.htm. A foreign parent in a Japanese court will have minimal chance of securing anything more than extremely occasional visitation with his or her child in Japan if the other parent is Japanese. (Thus, in a case on which the author is currently working, the American father who lives in Japan has been allowed to see his child only once in 6 months, for only 2 hours, in court and with supervision).

Accordingly, if a Japanese parent threatens to take a child to Japan, or wishes to take a child for a temporary visit there during a time of marital strife, it is highly advisable to seek a court order barring any such visit. While a U.S. court will doubtless be skeptical when faced with such a motion, it is extremely important to educate the court as to the law, procedure, customs and traditions of Japan, all of which support a Japanese parent’s desire to raise a child in Japan to the total exclusion of the other (foreign) parent. Similar admonitions apply with respect to other countries that are not party to the Hague Convention.

Parents who oppose prohibiting the removal of children for temporary overseas visits often assert that such orders are unnecessary, because wrongfully retaining a child in a foreign country is a felony. The International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act (IPKCA), 18 U.S.C. 1204, makes it a federal offense to remove a child from the United States or to retain a child (who has been in the United States) outside the United States with intent to obstruct the exercise of parental rights (custody or visitation). Unfortunately, this law often makes a bad situation worse, since parents who have wrongfully retained children overseas fear that they will be arrested if they return to this country (as happened in U.S. v. Amer, supra). In addition, foreign countries rarely permit extradition for international parental kidnapping, and those countries that are the most likely to do so are countries that are already parties to the Hague Convention.

Preventing Abductions to Non-Compliant Hague Countries

Merely because a country is a party to the Hague Convention does not mean that it will effectively enforce its treaty obligations. For example, the U.S. State Department has asserted that Mexico is “non-compliant” with the terms of the Convention. U.S State Department Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, 2004. Mexico’s noncompliance results from the following problems:

• Mexico has not enacted any legislation to implement the Hague Convention, which has not been integrated into the Mexican legal system.
• The Mexican Central Authority has no law enforcement powers and Mexican law enforcement agencies make no serious efforts to locate parentally abducted children.
• The burden of finding an abducted child in Mexico is left entirely to the left-behind parent. Mexican authorities provide no effective help and if the child cannot be located, nothing happens.
• There is an apparent lack of understanding of the Convention among the judiciary in Mexico.
• The Mexican Central Authority does not have adequate resources to perform its functions under the Convention.
• The “amparo” (a special appeal in Mexico claiming a violation of constitutional rights) is used by taking parents to block Hague proceedings indefinitely.
• Mexican courts are able to reconsider the facts of a Hague at any stage of the proceeding, which allows proceedings to be prolonged substantially.

Accordingly, custody orders concerning parents with strong ties to Mexico must be drafted so as to minimize the risk that the child will be taken to that country. It would be reckless to permit a Mexican parent who has expressed a desire to move to Mexico, and who has strong family or business ties to Mexico, to take a child into that country for a visit, regardless of the conditions that may be imposed to encourage the parent to bring the child back to this country.

The State Department’s 2004 report establishes that similar concerns exist with respect to Austria, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mauritius, Turkey and Romania and, to a somewhat lesser extent, several other countries.

Conclusion

When courts receive applications to prevent children’s temporary visits to their parents’ country of origin, they are tempted to rely on the need to respect other countries’ legal systems and on international comity to preclude them from deciding that the foreign country may not provide sufficient guarantees that the child will be returned. However, if counsel marshal extensive evidence to support the fact that a foreign country will not respect or effectively enforce an American custody order, the courts should be prepared to reach the necessary conclusion and issue an effective remedy. It is far better to prevent children being taken to such countries that do not fully respect their international treaty obligations than to attempt to procure their recovery after the fact.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

Visit our web site at: www.abpworld.com

Um, oh my gosh. (I feel like so many of my posts start that way lately…)

Have you ever been so completely excited about something that your heart beats a little faster when you think about it? Well, dear friends, I AM GOING TO IRELAND!! AHHH! (I’ve mentioned this already? Really?) There is a huge grin on my face at this very moment, typing these words. It’s a good thing I’m in my room by myself, or my lovely college peers would think me stranger than they already do.

OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH.

I had a wonderfully long conversation about this last night with one of my friends who went on the trip last year, which is mainly the reason I’m so stoked right now. I was stoked before, but hearing about it firsthand just upped the ante (thanks, Sen… now how will I wait until May?!)

It’s not just about going to Europe (EUROPE!), though… (although I will admit that my heart flutters all the more just thinking about it.)

I’m going on a missions trip in May– we’re headed to downtown Dublin to work with the Dublin Christian Mission, which is apparently the second oldest continuous mission in the world. SO sweet.

I think what’s getting me so excited is the blending of all sorts of things I’m passionate about into one huge ball of awesomeness.

The main reason for the trip is to serve the needy in Dublin– showing them that being a Christian isn’t all about going to church and having religion and all that stuffy stuff. We’ll be working with the poor, especially children, and the main thing is just to care– care about their needs, their thoughts, their feelings. Attention. I hate the way organized religion sometimes works, and to be honest, I think Jesus might knock over a few tables in a few churches around here too.

Additional wonderfulness:

EUROPE. I AM GOING TO EUROPE. I have longed to go to Europe for my entire life, and NOW I AM! OH MY GOODNESS, I’M EXCITED. (so excited that I’m yelling about it via capital letters.) There is something particularly enticing about that continent.. I think it’s the history.

Speaking of history… I LOVE THAT STUFF. Guess what… Dublin’s an old city. So’s London, where we’re heading after working in Dublin to poke around for a couple of days, as long as we’re over there… AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! (as Sen put it… “Look across the river in Dublin and replace the cars with carriages in your mind, and it’s the same.” NO WORDS. I HAVE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE VOLUME OF MY EXCITEDNESS. OR EXCITEMENT. whichever.

I love cities of every shape, size, age, and location. They’re awesome. I’m going to two MAJOR ones. !!!!! (not to mention that we’re flying out of NYC.)

I also love traveling. I would look forward to our trips to Florida for months as we planned, going over blueprints of the rental house, poring over maps, looking up local attractions. I loved driving down, too… it’s just so exciting. Put me on a plane, and I’m like a kid in a candy shop. Our ability to change locations so quickly basically blows my mind.

AND, DUDE. IRELAND. My dad likes to say that my name’s more Irish (think Megan Patricia O’Hearn, people) than I am, but still. And I’m proud to be an American and all, but OH MY GOSH. I am going to the Emerald Isle. I may see some of my ancestors, the leprechauns. (Haven’t you ever wondered why I’m so short? Well, that’s why. I’m part leprechaun.)

Before I burst with excitement, I need to study for my French quiz. Top o’ the afternoon!

Ireland v Australia
20 – 20
Sunday 15th November, Croke Park

Ireland's saviour Brian O'Driscoll scoring in the last minutes of the game in his 100th international cap

All the pregame talk was about Ireland’s captain Brian O’Driscoll’s 100th international cap but getting down to business this was a big test match between the top Northern hemisphere side and England’s vanquishers from last weekend.

The visitors started out the stronger, displaying their much improved rucking by quickly turning over Irish ball in the 2nd minute, all of which came from Jamie Heslip running slow ball by himself. But Ireland regained the ball and went on the attack, unfortunately for the home side and their fly half, the under pressure Ronan O’Gara, the attack led to an Australian interception and Drew Mitchell running it under the posts untouched. O’Gara had thrown a miss pass that was just in front of the slightly flat footed O’Driscoll who could only get the finger tips of one hand to the ball which he then accidentally deflected straight into the path of the rushing Australian winger who could not believe his luck. It was the best imaginable start for the Wallabies and the worst for Ireland who had managed to thoroughly deflate their passionate crowd.

Ireland were quick to strike back though through an O’Gara penalty after Rob Kearny put up a perfectly judged high ball which was knocked on and then played offside. The points came through two men who had experienced very different summers on the Lions tour to South Africa; Kearny being the find of the tour, excelling at full back and O’Gara suffering the wrath of millions for giving away a late penalty in the second test to lose the game and the series.

An area of hot competition all day was the scrum with Ireland starting debutant Cian Healy along with the experienced Hayes who had himself been out for six weeks after being banned for stamping. In comparison the Australian front row were in prime fitness and well moulded having played a lot of test match rugby together.

Ireland were forced to defend well to keep the visitors at bay but were up to the task and did well to slow the ball down in the rucks allowing them to organise quickly. That defence was strained almost to breaking point on the 14th minute however by a surging Wycliff Palu the big Australian number eight who set the Wallaby momentum going forward with a powerful run, driven on by his back row partner Rocky Elsom. The pressure resulted in a penalty but a rare Matt Giteau miss let Ireland off the hook.
On the 18th minute Ireland came alive building well constructed phases but were in need of more support at the rucks and were finally penalised for not releasing. But the Australia line out was well below par in the first half and after an Ireland turn over and good handling by the centres they attacked at speed down the wing with Luke Fitzgerald chipping the ball in an attempt to beat the last defenders after running out of space, only for Australia to clear the danger.

In the following minutes O’Gara and Giteau traded penalties, the Irish coming off the back of a strong looking maul. But it was the Wallabies who were to take the game to Ireland, off the restart Elsom made a break which saw the giant race fifty yards up field leaving the Irish backs in his wake only to be desperately tap tackled by the recovering O’Driscoll. Mitchell was again looking sharp breaking the Irish line to further the attack.
Ireland attempted to answer by going on the attack but despite getting in strong positions their cause was hurt by players getting isolated. In a matter of minutes both O’Leary and Paddy Wallace were caught all alone. The all Lions, Irish back row were in need of getting to the rucks a little faster to compete with the sharp Australians.

Wycliff Palu was harshly shown a yellow card for a great tackle that the referee judged to have been made without any attempt of using his arms, but as a matter of fact was just a vicious big hit. Perhaps rightly in the balance of things Australia managed to prevent Ireland scoring any points while he was absent.

The half ended with Quade Cooper knocking on the ball twice within a few seconds to end any Australian treat and bring the half to a close. At half time it was still anyone’s game with both sides refreshingly showing some signs of adventure when attacking. At this stage the man in the spot light before the game had begun, O’Driscoll, had been quiet if not poor and was fortunate that Cooper playing in the opposition centres was having a very poor game himself.

The second half began with a quick penalty being awarded to Australia who surprisingly failed to capitalise once again with Giteau pushing it wide. But on the 47th minute the menacing Australian attack was in full flight with full back Adam Ashley-Cooper leading the way. After attacking side to side the man making his first cap for Ireland put an end to the danger with two successive tackles, the second one forcing the Wallaby into touch. But Australia were on top and had most of the possession since the break, even their wilting scrum from the first half was resurrected and destroyed the Irish pack in the 52nd minute to win a penalty. It was a clear shift in tactics with the visitors getting much more aggressive at the set piece having perhaps given the fabled Irish pack too much respect in the first half. Pressure at the next scrum resulted in Giteau getting another shot at goal which he put over with ease.

Ireland wasted no time at getting back at the visitors, challenging at the restart to break up the Australian structure. Forcing the ball to be dropped from the kick young Healy showed another string to his bow speeding down the field in a great display of power and strength from the prop to get Australia on the back foot. After numerous attempts to smash over the line for a try, Tommy Bowe injected some pace to things and the strong Osprey winger forced his way over the line to score a try. O’Gara’s conversion makes the scores all even at 13 – 13.

The new prop Cian Healy showing the form that made him Man of the Match

Healy was on fire at this point and on the 58th minute took it upon himself to lead Ireland up the field going on another bulldozing run, with the gold defence unable to bring the powerful dynamo down; in a final display of strength and skill he brilliantly got the offload away to allow the attack to continue.
But the game quickly tipped in the visitor’s favour, when after great handling across the line they found Elsom lurking on the wing to once again display his pace and power his way over in the corner despite the heavy attention of both Kearny and O’Leary. The Australian captain was once again leading by example and showing the form that saw him named Heineken Cup final Man of the Match in 2009 for Leinster and saw Brian O’Driscoll calling him the best player he’s ever played with. High praise indeed. Giteau scored a difficult conversion to make it 13-20.

The last twenty minutes were all Ireland; they took line out, after line out attempting to put the reinstated maul to good use but on each attempt to get in moving Australia had already put on a great counter drive to make them ineffective. Ireland kept the pressure on however, choosing the line out again rather than taking the points. The relentless Irish pressure led to another opportunity for Bowe to get over the line this time making his own opening using his strength and speed to hit the line but was surrounded by four gold defenders and subsequently held up.

From the resulting scrum on the five metres Ireland won quick, clean ball and sent it out quickly to O’Driscoll who once again came up big to slice through the despondent Australian centres who had switched off and could only start an early inquiry as to what went wrong. It was a piece of theatrical drama that the Irish have made a habit of. O’Gara’s penalty in front of the posts levelled the score and ended the game giving Ireland an unlikely looking draw that was celebrated like a win. The result keeps Ireland’s unbeaten run in 2009 alive and once again gives Brian O’Driscoll the headlines on a land mark day. The final score was 20 – 20 and by far the best game of the weekend.

Man of the Match on his debut was the impressive Cian Healy who looks to have the making of a great modern prop with, pace, skill and power. With a little improvement in his scrummaging he could prove to be a world beater in the front row. A close second was the Australian captain Rocky Elsom who might just be the best blindside flanker in the world right now doing everything that was asked of him and more.

Australian captain, Rocky Elsom on his way to a try.

By John Evely

Well it’s been a while since I have done a ‘proper’ blog. So I’ve got a bit of catching up to do.

The photo above was taken at the Science Fair which is held at the Sligo IT every year. There are all sorts of things to do and it’s a great day out.
This year as well as all the experiments there was a mobile planetarium, sea creatures from Exploris, RLNI and Eagles Flying. Alaska above is a female bald eagle. She is ten years old and is one of the many birds that can be seen in the flying display at Eagles Flying. If you are anywhere near Ballymote go and visit it’s a great place.

I was a bit surprised to see this fella at the science fair:

So it seems that Elvis isn’t dead after all! Jono thought it was actually Elvis and was going to ask for his autograph!

Lucy hasn’t been too well over the last week. She seems to pick up every bug going so I took her to the doctors today and she has a throat infection. She’s going back for a blood test tomorrow and is on anti biotics now.
While we were in the doctors the child from hell was sitting beside me…..typical I seem to be a magnet for them!
He wouldn’t sit still and was almost on top of me. Then he started pulling at the leaflets that were above our heads one of them landed on me. I suppose it’s just lucky it was only a leaflet and not the shelf that they were on.

Still no news about Jono’s operation. There was an article in the newspaper last Monday. I didn’t scan it in because it doesn’t say anything new. Just that we had a date and it got cancelled.

We were having dinner this evening and listening to the Heart radio station (Chiltern radio) on the internet radio and I was gobsmacked to hear them play ‘Step into Christmas’ by Elton John…..it’s the 16th of November!!!

Abidal out for three weeks. Toulalan and Diaby not to play

Heading into the Stade de France on Wednesday, the French National Team will be without defender Eric Abidal. Abidal suffered an injury to this left thigh in Saturday’s match against Ireland. According to Barcelona, Abidal will be out of action for about three weeks, and will more than likely miss the Clasico against Real Madrid on November 29th.

In addition to missing Abidal, Jeremy Toulalan and Abou Diaby, both of whom missed Saturday’s game, will again be missing from the French lineup on Wednesday.

Wenger: Vieira should leave Inter

If Patrick Vieira is to ever get back on the French National Team, he needs to live Inter Milan, according to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

In an interview with former French international Bixente Lizarazu, who now work for RTL, Wenger said that the Inter midfielder should leave the team. “If he wants to play the World Cup, he should change clubs because he does not play enough. And I will not be surprised if it happens,” said Wenger.  He also said that he would bet on Vieira, who he called an “intelligent” and “extremely useful” player, returning to England to play.

20,000 Irish to Stade de France?

According to L’Equipe, French defender Patrice Evra said that there is expected to be some 25,000 Irish fans as the Stade de France for the second leg of the Ireland-France World Cup playoff.  Evra called this “abnormal” and asked why the FFF allowed so many tickets to be sold to Irish fans. “This is not a friendly, this is a World Cup qualifier. I consider this quite abnormal,” said Evra.

Trappatoni, Keane confident of Irish victory

After the injuries to the French defense, Giovanni Trappatoni said that he is still confident that his team can qualify for the World Cup because of the weakness of the French defense. He also said that he feels that his collection of players are better than the collection that France has.

Striker Robbie Keane also said that he is confident of a victory on Wednesday. “If you look at our side, we have shown that we can win on the road,” Keane said.  Keane also said that many matches come down to luck which, until this point, has gone to the French side.

Chile 1 v 4 Ireland HT 1-0 | 2009-11-15 11:05
No Venue | 2010 Men’s World Cup Qualifier (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

Belgium 9 v 0 Czech Republic HT 3-0 | 2009-11-15 13:05
No Venue | 2010 Men’s World Cup Qualifier (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

USA 1 v 6 Argentina HT 0-4 | 2009-11-15 15:05
No Venue | 2010 Men’s World Cup Qualifier (National Mens) | Match Report(s)
On the second day or play at the BDO Hockey World Cup Qualifier in Argentina, Ireland wrestled down Chile, Belgium dispatched the Czech Republic, and Argentina booked a win against the USA. All day one winners thus booked their second consecutive victory, thereby neatly splitting the table in two.

The day started off with the encounter between Chile and Ireland. As yesterday, Chile went into the game overflowing with their can-do attitude, and they were rewarded midway through the first half with a goal from Thomas Kannegiesser. Subsequently, an open battle with few chances on either side ensued.

Holding on to their lead unil the end of the first half, Chile received the first blow to their plans for points when Alan Sothern scored a field goal shortly after the return from the break. Building on his euqalizer, the Red Devils pulled ahead with ten minutes to go at the hands of John Jermyn, while Alan Sothern added two goals in the last three minutes of the match to complete his second half hattrick and establish the 4:1 end result – a disappointing scoreline for Chile who as on day one have put down a solid effort and pulled ahead with an early goal only to see the tables turned on them for a 1:4 defeat.

Report Courtesy of World Hockey. For further deatils visit World Hockey

It is so ridiculous and childish… And yea, I should probably play my part and grow up too. It is totally lame to let these people who won’t possibly play a part in my future to affect me so much. Focus Jasmine! Be the big person and swallow it down, its only 3 more dayyyyyyysssssssss!

Inga 's abrasive defence would have been prohibited.

We all know the stereotype, free-thinking, attack-minded and immensely skilful but it is the brutish defence of the south sea islanders which has been constantly called into question both by the media and the games’ administrators since the dawn of professionalism. Sky Sports Stuart Barnes even said “People don’t like me saying it but south sea islanders have a real problem with their tackling” and the problem is undoubtedly through the reputations of notorious hitters such as Viliame “The Stretcher” Satala and Brian “The Chiropractor” Lima, all Fijians, Tongans and Samoans are looked upon immediately with suspicion.

This is not for a moment to suggest that they are all innocent by any means, it being almost ingrained within the culture that the technique used is a rugby-league style shoulder hit. In this age of safety paramount refereeing, this inevitably nearly always leads to a penalty and yellow card simply because there is so much force behind the hit the player in question cannot wrap the arms, see  Palu v Ireland.

In terms of not making any attempt to get the arms round, the Tuilagi family are legendary but I for one do not see how not wrapping the arms in the tackle makes such a great difference in the outcome (of the tackle), compared to the scourge of cynical late or early tackles off the ball.

I raise this issue on the back of a weekends’ play which saw Samoa full-back Lolo Lui yellow carded for a borderline late tackle to which he was already committed, which consequently cost Samoa a famous victory over Wales. And there was the aforementioned yellow for Palu, which cost Australia a grand slam, for a legal hit. This is an easy punishment for the referees to give out whilst they continue to ignore the desperate troubles at scrum time, and would suggest a change of IRB policy was in order.

The ability to effect match-turning tackles is one almost particular to Pacific Island players however I’m in no doubt this its one that will be lost not long from now. As one friend said, “Inga (Tuigamala) would’ve been binned every week if he was playing now”. To legislate against dangerous tackling is one thing but outlawing a core skill is a travesty which rugby would be a lot less entertaining for.

This past weeken we went to Dublin, Ireland. It was absolutely amazing. We stayed at a hostel called Barnacles which is in the Temple Bar area. It was the perfect location because it was right around a bunch of cool Irish pubs, restaurants, and shops. It was also about a 2 minute walk from the River, which although brown, was still pretty.

The first night that we got there we just went right to bed because we were so exhausted. When we woke up the next morning we went to a quaint little restaurant for a huge traditional Irish breakfast. It was delishious. The breakfast came with bap, a kind of Irish bread, fried eggs, bacon, and sausage. After our filling breakfast we went on a walking tour of the city. These tours work out really well because they take you to see a lot of different sites, but they are in essence free. You pay the tour guide in tips: if you like it you pay them, if not you don´t. We only stayed for half of the tour because it got a little bit boring. We then made our way to the Guiness Storehouse. It was awesome! We learned about how Guiness beer is made and got to taste samples of it during the tour. At the end we went up to the gravity bar which had a panoramic view of Dublin. The view was incredible! While absorbing the city our livers got to absorb a free Guiness beer.

After the tour we decided to take a horse drawn carriage driven by a 12 year old boy to dinner because it was raining. During the carriage ride Lauren was trying to lean out to take a picture of the driver. While she was trying to take a picture she was leaning on the door when it swung open. At first we weren´t really sure how to react as she was hanging out the window trying to run along side the carriage. Quickly she gave up, tumbled out, and kept trying to run after the carriage. It was hilarious!

The next day after exploring the city further we watched the Ireland vs. France game. Unfortunately Ireland lost 0-1 in the final minutes of the game. However, we didn´t let that stop us from having fun. Afterwords we went to a pub called The Quays. It was the best time ever. They had live music and we sung along to American Pie, Gallaway Girl, Brightside, and many more songs.

On our last day there, Sunday, we took a train out to Bray to see the countryside. It was a great finaly to our trip: breath-takingly beautiful with the ocean and gorgeous green hills.

All of us want Ireland to make it to the World Cup Finals in South Africa but I am beginning to wonder if we’re living in a fool’s paradise in connection with the 2nd leg of the playoff against France in Paris.

Ireland did very well with a policy of containment in the first half but as RTE Panellist Graham Souness said to me in studio “It’s impossible to maintain this for 90 minutes”. He was absolutely right and once France turned up the pressure Ireland weren’t at the races in the second half.

Okay, France got a deflected goal and if we had any luck we should have equalised. But we must surely recognise that we conceded too much space, gave away the ball too often and, if we are realistic and not looking through a haze of green, we could see that France were coasting for most of the second half.

I suppose a one goal deficit isn’t insurmountable – in theory anyway. But can our midfield give the service to Doyle and Keane that is likely to produce scores. Furthermore, if we play a more adventurous attacking game with the players that Trappattoni favours we’re likely to be taken apart. With a few exceptions we can’t match the talent of the French side and effort and commitment gets you only so far. So set pieces are our big hope. We have a decent away record in the World Cup qualifiers but France are the best side we’ve met in this campaign and I doubt they’ll bottle it in Paris.

France want to go to South Africa, FIFA want them to go to South Africa and the weight of history is against us. Ireland have not won in Paris since 1937 and no European team that has lost the first home leg of a playoff has made it through to the World Cup finals. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll make it this time but I very much hope I am wrong.

Enjoy the game,
Bill

Four international matches featured members of Leinster’s current squad this past weekend, with the pick of the province’s performers being Cian Healy’s incredible debut for Ireland against Australia on Sunday.

His provincial frontrow partner CJ van der Linde  played twenty minutes of South Africa’s defeat to a muscled-up French side on Friday evening, coming on for Tendai Mtawarira to stabilise a struggling ‘Boks scrum.

On the same night, a second half blitz from Ireland ‘A’ at Ravenhill saw them march to a 48-17 victory over the Tongan first XV. Of note here is the captaincy of Shane Horgan and the openfield running of Sean O’Brien to set up two of Ireland’s tries on the night. Jonny Sexton, who sat on the bench for the entirety of Ireland’s draw with Australia on Sunday (more below) will rest easy knowing that there’s little at ‘10′ to trouble his spot in the Declan Kidney’s matchday squad. Ian Keatley may have come on to score and convert a late try, but Ian Humphries missed his first 5 conversion attempts and was culpable for at least one of the Tongan tries. Of four Leinster starters, Devin Toner was the only one to be substituted, with Kevin McLaughlin impressing in a 20 minute cameo at the end.

In Edinburgh on Saturday, Scotland relied on a strong set-piece to defeat Fiji 23-10 in one of the least interesting tests I’ve ever forced myself to watch, though key to the Scottish scrum and line-out on the day was Leinster’s Nathan Hines, who played the full 80 minutes for his adopted country.

Finally, on Sunday, Ireland’s 20-20 draw with Australia was thanks to a last-minute try from captain Brian O’Driscoll. Despite being culpable for an Australian try inside the first 3 minutes, Ronan O’Gara converted that late late try to tie the game at the death. Earlier, a try from Leinster old-boy Rocky Elsom looked to have won the match for the visitors, but a suddenly unshackled Ireland came back strongly. Man of the match was Australia’s David Pocock, but Ireland’s Cian Healy ran him close for the honour in a barnstorming debut that was described in the Irish Independent as “The birth of a future Irish legend“. Eoin Reddan, Jonny Sexton and Leo Cullen remained unused substitutes on the day, yet five Leinster players impressed as starters; Luke Fitzgerald, who went off with what looked like a hurt knee after 53 minutes, will have his injury assessed today.

Interesting points from the weekend’s action are that 2 Leinster players captained international sides this weekend, yet Leinster’s captain only made the bench, that Luke Fitzgerald and Jamie Heaslip showed that boots come in yellow and red too, and that CJ van der Linde played for South Africa despite not being contracted to a South African franchise (worth breaking the rules for!) in a match where the South African singer of their national anthem forgot the words to Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.

How not to sing a national anthem

How not to pass to Drico

How to haka

As a recipient of a means-tested benefit I am looking forward to having the miserable pittance on which I survive cut still further. And now I learn that the minister for Health plans to introduce a per item prescription charge for medical cards. Since my diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis I have been prescribed a Beta-Inferon preparation which so far has regulated, though not eliminated, relapses. But I am going to be penalised. This government, not content with spitting in my face by reducing my blind pension, seeks to harass me and many others. Does the minister think that I am misusing the medicines I receive? In that it improves my quality of life and keeps me alive, I suppose I am misusing them according to her perverted lights. The bitch really has a brass neck to pontificate on such a subject. The really frustrating thing is that thyi9s prescription charge will help to pay for the minister’s five-star champagne lifestyle as well as pay the salaries of some HSE employees so that they can continue their criminal activities.

 Where might I ask are the Unions? Are they so selfishly myopic? Are they only interested in the lot of their members? And as for the Party of Slime who sit at the cabinet table with these bastards they have shown themselves up for what they are.

 This criminal government should be – must be – overthrown BY ANY MEANS – before it can do any more harm to the Irish people.

 I suppose I can expect a visit from the Gardai for the above statement – maybe at 1,30 in the morning.

by Jeremy D. Morley

Here are some tips for attorneys and clients faced with instituting or defending child abduction proceedings under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, whether in the United States or internationally.

In a nutshell, a Hague Convention application may be made when a child is taken or retained across an international border, away from his or her habitual residence, without the consent of a parent who has rights of custody, if the two countries are parties to the Convention. The child must be promptly returned to the habitual residence unless the return will create a grave risk of harm to the child.

1. ACT FAST

An attorney must be ready to file a Hague Convention application and institute or defend a Hague Convention lawsuit on extremely short notice.

Prompt action may be critical. The Convention specifically requires that hearings be conducted expeditiously. A Hague case can theoretically be instituted more than a year after the abduction but a defense will then arise that the child has become settled in the new environment and, in practice, the longer a child is in a new place the more likely it is that a court will be reluctant to send the child away.

Fast action by the left-behind parent is also necessary to help prevent a claim that the parent has acquiesced in the child’s relocation.

Clients must move quickly to obtain the documents needed to file the initial application and then to collect the documents needed for the hearing. They should normally be asked to prepare a detailed family history and to assist the attorney to develop evidence as rapidly as possible.

In addition to the Hague application and lawsuit itself, counsel for the left-behind parent should take many other steps.

First, counsel should enlist the support of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues. Second, the left-behind parent should institute civil proceedings. If there is no custody order in place from a court in the jurisdiction of the habitual residence, an application should immediately be made for such an order.

Third, counsel should consider putting the abducting parent on immediate written and formal notice of the dire consequences, civil, criminal and financial, that the abduction will cause to that parent personally, and, possibly to others conspiring with the parent. It may be appropriate to provide an extremely short time for the abducting parent to cure the problem by returning the child.

Fourth, the parent should consider requesting the federal and state prosecutors to institute both federal and state criminal proceedings. The federal crime of international parental kidnapping is a felony with a penalty of up to three years in prison. In addition, many states including New York have provisions that also provide criminal penalties for parental child abduction. It will occasionally be possible to seek extradition based on a federal warrant.

2. PREPARE THE FACTUAL PRESENTATION INTENSELY

Hague Convention cases are often extremely fact-intensive. They frequently hinge on the ability of one party to convince the court of matters such as the habitual residence of a child, the extent to which a parent actually exercised custody rights and whether or not a parent consented to or acquiesced in a new residency. For a court to resolve these matters it must analyze the relevant facts.

A successful Hague proceeding requires the attorney, working closely with the client, to marshal as much evidence as possible, in as many forms as possible, to support the client’s position.

Clients are frequently shocked that matters that to them are obvious and indisputable turn out to be disputed and to require them to produce clear and convincing proof. They may well be insulted that their word alone is insufficient to convince the court that they are truthful and that the other parent is lying.

In one case, the parents had moved permanently with their young child from the mother’s native country to the U.S. Two years later, the mother took the child back to her country for a vacation and then refused to return to the States. In supporting her claim that the child was never habitually resident in the States she claimed that the original move to America had been only temporary and that she and the father had agreed that they would return to the mother’s native country after a year or two. The mother had planned the move well in advance and had amassed — and even created — evidence that tended to support her claims. Additionally, she had removed evidence from the parties’ home that would have disproved her claims.

To win the case, we interviewed neighbors, friends, family members, schoolteachers, real estate salespeople, fellow office workers and an array of other people who had had some connection with the family. We checked into any and all areas of the mother’s life for anything that might indicate her intention to stay in the States. We obtained emails, notes, invoices, and other documents. We searched old household bills for evidence of the purchase of items that inferred a degree of permanency. At the hearing, the mother was shocked that her husband had collected so much written evidence to disprove her claims and undercut her credibility. The courts ultimately — and with great reluctance, since they were going against a local national — found in favor of our client.

Since Hague cases are tried quickly, there is usually only one chance to present the case and it needs to be done well at the very outset. An attorney must embark on a quick campaign of collecting mounds of relevant evidence to support the client’s positions, and must expect the other parent to lie, cheat, and distort the facts in a desperate attempt to avoid losing the case.

Just as a current military strategy is to employ overwhelming force to create shock and awe, so too in a Hague Convention case it is often advisable to use overwhelming amounts of evidence to win the case. Such a campaign in a Hague proceeding may yield a capitulation by the other parent even before the hearing actually commences.

Hague Convention hearings sometimes take the form of “he said, she said” disputes in which each side makes verbal accusations against the other. Documentary evidence is usually far better than the mere word of one parent. Thus, if you want to claim that a parent applied for an immigration visa, you must be prepared to do more than simply have the parent tell the court that this was done. You should do whatever you can to get hold of the actual application papers that the parent signed in applying for the visa, which may mean contacting the lawyer who handled the immigration matter originally.

While it is helpful if documents are supported by sworn statements, it is not essential. Both the Convention and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (“ICARA”) provide that authentication of documents is not required in a Convention proceeding.

3. PREPARE THE LEGAL ARGUMENT INTENSELY

Hague Convention cases raise unusual international law, foreign law and treaty law questions. They involve the courts in matters of a kind that they are usually not used to handling. In many jurisdictions the court may be entirely unfamiliar with Hague cases. Accordingly it is usually essential for the lawyers to help the court to an unusual extent. Certainly a well-reasoned memorandum of law is essential.

The matters in dispute in most Hague cases raise difficult legal issues that must be thoroughly briefed. Thus, the Convention requires the left-behind parent to establish that the child was taken from the “habitual residence” and that the parent had “rights of custody” under the law of that jurisdiction. However, neither of those fundamental terms is defined in the Convention and substantial jurisprudence has grown domestically and internationally setting forth often-contradictory determinations concerning their scope and meaning. Moreover, courts have held that, while they must determine under international law whether the left-behind parent possesses Hague Convention “custody rights,” they must first examine the law of the child’s habitual residence in order to ascertain the extent of the rights that such parent possesses under that law. In this regard, it is often essential to use foreign law experts to establish the existence and scope of such rights.

A Hague Convention attorney may ” and should ” cite cases not only from the domestic jurisdiction but also from other jurisdictions if they support the client’s position. It has become more usual to cite cases from other jurisdictions in this area of the law than perhaps in any other. Courts around the world recognize that it is best to coordinate their decisions with those of other courts internationally and, for that very reason, the Hague Conference on Private International Law has established a database of significant Hague cases from courts around the world.

4. AVOID BEST INTERESTS ANALYSIS

In representing the left-behind parent in a Hague proceeding, it is necessary to keep the court focused on the narrow issues that the Convention requires an applicant to establish and the narrow defenses that a respondent can assert. Whenever the hearing strays into any areas that might be considered as constituting an analysis of the child’s best interests, the applicant should vehemently object.

However, a party opposing a return should do his or her utmost to assert any and all relevant issues under the rubric of one of the defenses specified in the Convention and should be armed with case law to establish that similar claims were permitted in other cases.

5. BE FLEXIBLE CONCERNING EVIDENCE

In Hague cases evidence rules are usually relaxed, so evidence should be submitted in any possible format. Live testimony is invariably the best and normally everything should be done to get the left-behind parent into the courtroom. (An exception is if that parent would be a poor witness and his or her presence would create an opportunity for embarrassing cross-examination). If a witness cannot be brought to the courthouse, consider testimony by video conferencing or otherwise by telephone conference. As a last resort, submit affidavits.

6. USE AN EXPERIENCED ATTORNEY: IF THAT’S NOT YOU, FIND SOMEONE WHO IS

Hague Convention cases happen too fast, and too much is at stake for the client, for an attorney to learn about this area of law at the last minute. It is extremely important to locate counsel with knowledge and experience in Hague proceedings.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

Visit our web site at: www.abpworld.com

In 1969, General Charles De Gaulle, the retired President of France visited Ireland. The great Anglophobe was descended from the Irish clan of McCartan on his mother’s side and had a keen interest in Irish history. He fulfilled a lifetime ambition to visit Ireland in 1969. It was on the anniversary of L’Appel du 18 Juin (Appeal of June 18), de Gaulle’s famous speech from London that the war was not yet over with the fall of France. It was de Gaulle’s first visit abroad as a simple French citizen.

On 19th June, De Gaulle invited many McCartans from County Down to a reception in Árus an Uachtaráin–the Presidential Residence at Dublin–where he also met with the Irish President Eamon De Valera. De Gaulle commented to Valera that in Ireland, he saw what he looked for right in front of him. (“J’ai trouvé ici ce que je cherchais : être en face de moi-même.”). The above photo was taken by André Lefebvre.